The Role of Parents in School-to-Work Transition. Education Reform and School-to-Work Transition Series.

Rioux, J. William

To qualify for the grants provided through the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, states/localities must develop school-to-work systems containing three core elements: school-based learning, work-based learning, and connecting activities. Parent involvement in those activities is both valuable and necessary. Research has provided extensive evidence that parents' involvement in their children's education helps reinforce students' perceptions of the value and relevancy of learning and motivates students to be successful. School-to-work programs provide a useful framework to help schools structure systems that involve parents in the world of high school. Successful systems both support parents and draw on them as resources. Studies have demonstrated that carefully structured partnerships between parents and teachers, administrators, counselors, and employers can increase students' motivation to success in both school- and work-based learning. Strategies to encourage parent involvement can range from loose, informal communication to highly structured councils and committees. Parent involvement may take many forms, including serving on advisory committees and functioning as informed monitors of school-initiated home-based assignments. School systems must develop systemwide policies emphasizing new approaches to parent involvement, and teacher and administrator training in working with parents must be expanded. (Appended are guidelines for parents seeking to get involved in school-to-work transition systems.) (MN)